Shipping container



May 26, 1936. v. WYILLOUGHBY SHIPPING CONTAINER 3 SheetsSheet l Filed July 22, 1951 May 26, 1936 v. WILLOUGHBY SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed July 22, 1951 5 SheeLS-Sheel'l 2 May 26, 1936- v. wlLLoUGHBY 2,042,440

' SHIPPING CONTAINER I Filed July 22, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 26, 1936 PATENT oFF-ICE- i SHIBBING; CONTAINER'.

VictorWilloughby-Ridgewood, N. Jil, assignor'to Americani Car and Foundry Company; New- York,- N-. Y., acorporation ofiv New-Y Jersey Application July 2z, 1931, serial No. 552,375."

z claims.

cars-.for the ;s.torage and1 transportation offracf tional;L canlots-f oflmerchandiser.

Onepzobj ect oftheipresent'z invention .is the. f provV visiornoiV a shipping containen having; a?, .strong` andi .dura-ble; base:y frame; structure?. for support.. ing; either.l a Wooden.- or; az. metal; oo-r.

Another: object ofi this. invention is the. prof,-

vision of'` an, shipping. container having; a1 base..

comprisinga.. skeleton frarnencluding transverse incompressible floor beamsand' longitudinally' arranged stringers for: supporting; a; floor;

A; further.' object of; thislzinventioniisa the prof vision*` of: a.. new and; improved: corner. construertion-ion4 shipping containers...

This-:invention also contemplatesithe :provision: of a shipping container for the;v storagey and:

transportationi of fractional car lotseofimerchandise which is. formed in. theunainI off metal: parts.

welded; together: to produce a'. Substantially. univ taryv.constr.uction.

Otherr objects.. andi advantages. of.. this: invention ywill@ be apparent .fronr thefollowing fdescriprftion taken` withl the accompanying:v drawings in-` Fig. 4lis2a sectionalview-on the line-kwil', Fig;v .3; the view also showing fragmentaryY portions'Y of'ithafloorcandithelnailing strips; this.view also.4

showing clearly? the construction'. of. the base. frame of? ther container.

Fig; 5`is^aVA top planiview of'a. portionof the container;

Fig'. 6 is.- anenlarged' detailr viewfoff that por-- tionoi?7 the-containerlshown at the lower.` left;..

hand corner of Fig. 4.

Fig.` '7I is a.Y sectional'4 view on: the line l-e1, Fig; 6.5 Y

Fig:` 8' isa= sectional Viewy onfthe4 line 8`-8;.

Fig.- 1'1' isa sectioi-'ialvievvfY on. the line I lt-H Fig:l 3E

This; invention; relates to; shipping; containers g of: a; kindi adapted; for; use.. with; gondolaorA flat.

Fig. 13 is a-sectional view. onthe.. line I3.-I3., Fig. 1;

Fig. lei-isv a sectional viewon the line Iii-I4, Fig. 1, butshowing thedoor in open position.

Fig. 15 is asectionalview on the lineA I5-l5 Fig. 4..

Fig, 16-isa-sectional-.viewonthe line ISF-46.,- Fig. 2,*and

Fig. 17Aisa sectionalview onrthe line lT--IL Figa 3' Referring now more particularly to the drawingsin which similar characters of reference designate similar parts in the severalA views,`the container of; theY present invention. comprises generally.v a/base A,Vside walls B; a roof, G. and front andrear end Walls DYandE, respectively, front;l end WallD having a door F therein.

The base Aoi the container. comprisesfa skele t0nA frame,4 substantially rectangularV in shape, and;f ormed of side andvend sills2'and-d, respectively, angles in the instance shown, the horizontal-legs.;6 ofawhichproject inwardly. Referring no wfto Fig. 6, it' can beseen that the -ad-4 jacent ends` of'` the vsills 2 and dare mitered-as'at -andarewelded together asY shown at I0. To further connect adjacent sills angle braces l2 are providedwhioh. extend diagonally; across-and restiuponthe;horizontal flanges of.. the sills and arewelded; to.said si1ls, .as,shown at-M; .the Ver-- ticalflangesl5 ofthe braces l2 beingremoved adjacentythe; ends of' the braces in order notto overlap`v the sills.

The;Verticalglegsl H of thefsills- Landi-serve as attachingportionsfor. the side and end` Walls',y the.:V latter; lapping; saidflegrsand being externally and internally; weldedthereto as shown. at( I6; see. Fig/,7; The sills; 2. andfd, and the adjacent side andend walls are further-connectedibyfangle shapedcornerposts P whichlap the side edges of. adjacent sidefa'rld; end ,wallsand are Welded to` thelatter asrshowmat [8.a Tofstifen the struc` ture at: the,corners;post1stiieners 20 are-provided whichlare of; plate formv andare arranged diagonally. of; the. corner posts. between' theA respective. legsthereof'and are weldedto saidlegs and to the` sideV andendgwalls and alsotothe liorizontal legsr of the sills2'and 4as shown at 2f2.; the posti stiffenersghaving. their lower ends slightly. offset as at; 213.1inpFig. 7 whereby to-.rest upon the. horizontal'flangesf ofthe, sills 2 and 4l ".llhev rectangular basew frame just described, is provided;` with. transverse door. beams, 26,- formed. off r-beams: which'. extend between. and' arej sup@- ported: on andi preferably welded.- to: thehori-v zontali'langes: of the-, sidesills.l In` additionto the floor beams 26, whichare rigid incompressible members, the base frame also includes longitudinally arranged stringers 28, wood beams in the instance shown, which are supported by the beams 26 and to the stringers 28 serve to retain the stringers in position. The horizontal flanges V,of the side and end sills have secured thereto in any suitable manner, nailing strips 32 and at the rearend ofthe container the adjacent longitudinal stringers 28 are connected thereto by angle clips 34, while at the front end of the container the nailing strips includeaythickened vportion 36 defining a threshold which `is covered by a threshold plate 38 secured to the vertical flange of the end sill (see Fig. 12) and theside edges of said thresho-ld plate 38 lap the adjacent longitudinal stringers 28 and are secured thereto and to the floor in any suitable manner.

Secured to the threshold 36 as shown in Fig. 12 is `an vangle 40, the horizontal leg 42 of which Yserves to support the floor atythis area of the container; the floor of the container comprising the'transversely arranged wood planks 44 which extend from side sill toside sillV and rest upon the nailing strips 32, andthe superposed woodV planks 46which are longitudinally arranged and extend fromY end sill to end sillV and rest upon and are secured to the before mentioned floor planks 44.

Obviously, the transverse beams Y26 and longitudinal stringers 28 serve to support the floor.

' The side walls B and rear end wall E are each formed of metal sheets 48 andV 50, respectively,

overlapped on a horizontal line 52 and internally and externally welded together as shown at 54, see Fig. 11. The side walls B are each provided with spaced pairs of reinforcing ribs 56, one pair on each side of the vertical center through the walls. In the instance shown these ribs are U shaped in section and are welded to said side walls and converge upwardly from the base A with their upper ends flattened as at 58 and a1- ranged between the overlapped walls 60 of lifting ears 62 carrying loops 64 for engagement by suitabletackle whereby the container may be lifted Vand moved about.'` The rear end wall Ey of the container is also stiffened by ribs 66, three in number in thepresent instance, with their loW- er ends adjacently Varranged and welded to the V,verticalrflange of the end sill; theY center rib being substantially vertical and arranged "at the .Y vertical center line of the rear end' wall while the outer ribs 66 diverge upwardly and'have Y their upper ends arranged adjacent the upper corners of the end wall, as shown clearly inV Fig. 2. In addition to the ribs 56 the side walls B are stiffene-d by horizontal ribs 68, one arranged across the'vertical center of the sidewall and extending between adjacent ribs 56 withits endsY preferablyrwelded to said Yribs, and to plate 48,

While the other horizontal ribs 68 are arranged between the pairs of ribs 56 and are Vwelded thereto and to plate `50. The rear end wall is Vfurther stiiened by horizontal ribs 10 Welded to plate 50. The upper ends ofthe sidewalls and rear end wall lap'the vertical flanges 12 of side and end plates 14 and are welded thereto as shown at 16. As shown clearly in the drawings, th-e side and end plates are angle shaped and the horizontal legs 18 thereof extend inwardly to supportthe roof C. The side plates 14 are stiffened by plates welded as at 82 to the respective legs of said plates and extending diagonally across said legs.

As clearly shown in Fig. 8, the lifting earsV 62 are connected to the side plates and to the side walls B by suitable fastening means such as the rivets 84 which also extend through the upper portions of the side walls. corner caps 85 are provided which rest against'the legs of the post P and have top portions 81 which overlie the roof, and saidcaps are preferably welded to the posts and the roof sheets.

The roof C may of course be formed of a single sheet if desired, but in the present instance is shown as formed out of a plurality of sheets 86 downwardly flanged as at 88 to lap the'vertical legs of the side and end plates. The roof sheets are preferably connected to the side and end plates and also to the upper edges of the side and end walls by welding such as shown at 90 in Figs. 8 and 17, the weld 90 effecting substantially a Yunitary construction including the side and end plates, the roof and the side and end walls. The

adjacent edges of adjacent roof sheets 86 `are up-V the carlines. The ends of the carlines 96 extend* into the side plates and the latter. are preferably cut away as shown at |00 (see Fig. 9) torreceive the vertical legs 94 of the carlines, the horizontal legs of the carlines underlying the horizontalV flanges 18 of the side plates and being welded thereto as'shown at |02. The vertical legs 94 of the carlines are welded as at |04 Yto the side plates, As shown in Fig. 5 the side and end plates at their adjacent edges are mitered as at |06 and are connected by gussets |08. For furtherfsupporting and stiffening the roof a ridge purlin |09 is provided (see Figs. 1 and 5) which is formed in sections and is secured to the end plates, roof sheets and carlines.

As hereinbefore described the end walls overlap the end plates, and the front end wall D of the contain-er is provided with a dooropening which is normally closed by a door F, and: said front end wall includes a door header I0 and oppositely arranged vertical panels v| I2, the upper ends of which latter overlap and are preferably welded to an upper door frame member 26 hereinafter more fully described.

.The panels ||2 underlap the corner posts Aand At the corners of the roof,V

are welded to thelatter and to the corner post Y stiffener as shown at |4 (see Fig. 14) and extendY to and overlap door posts |6 to which latter they are welded as shown at ||8. 'I'he door posts ||6 extend from the front end sill to the end. Yplate and are connected to the latter byrwelding and are connected to the end sill by gussets |20. Vand said door posts comprise angles, legisl |22 thereof extending inwardly as shown clearl'yrin Figs. 4 and 14 and the free edges of legs |22V are rearwardly bent as at |24 to define door postV The door opening is also framed mentioned upper member |26 of angle form with its vertical leg |28 welded to the header I0 adjacent its lowerY edge and projecting downwardly below the lower edge of header ||0 to defines.

stop for the upper rail |30 Vof the door F, while by the beforeY fect defining the door frame member heretofore described.

'Ihe door F is hingedly connected as shown at I 3S to the door post and the adjacent panel ||2 and the panels H2 are each stiifened by means of internal horizontally arranged angles |38 welded to the door posts and the panels and having portions thereof lapping and welded to the post stiffeners; all as clearly shown in Fig. 14.

From the above description it is believed that those skilled in the art will recognize that a strong and durable container has been provided by the construction illustrated. The drawings include means whereby the container may be lifted and moved about and these are usually essential in containers of great size. However it is obvious that the container of the present in'- vention may be constructed of a size such that the lifting elements may not be required. The present invention provides a container in which the body portion, base portion and roof are welded together to form substantially a unit. Riveting is eliminated thus eliminating inherent weaknesses in the usual type of riveted container.

The drawings herein illustrate one embodiment of the invention but it is to be understood that the drawings are illustrative only and various changes in the form and proportions of the construction shown may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a container of the kind described comprising a base, side and end walls, side and end plates of angle-shape secured to the walls at the upper portion thereof, the horizontal flanges of said plates extending inwardly, and being formed with spaced marginal slots, internal braces for said side and end plates extending diagonally between the flanges thereof, carlines of angle-shape extending between said plates each having one flange positioned in the slots formed in the plate and another flange extending through the adjacent internal brace and beneath thehorizontal flange, and a roof supported by the side and end plates having marginal flanges lap-ping the vertical legs of said plates.

2. In a container of the kind described comprising a base frame including angle-shaped side and end sills having inwardly extending horizontal flanges, rigid floor beams extending between and supported by the side sills, horizontally arranged wood stringers supported by said iioor beams, a oor supported by and secured to said beams and stringers, side and end walls, side and end plates of angle-shape secured to the Walls at the upper portion thereof, the horizontal flanges of said plates extending inwardly, and being formed with spaced marginal slots, internal braces for said side and end plates extending diagonally between the flanges thereof, carlines of angle-shape extending between said plates each having one flange positioned in the slots formed in the plate and another ange extending through the adjacent internal brace and beneath the horizontal ange, reinforcing ribs for said side walls secured to said base, lifting ears, means for securing said lifting ears, side walls and plates together, and a roof supported by the side and and plates having marginal anges lapping the vertical legs of said. plates.

VICTOR WILLOUGHBY. 

